Fish Stew

Sometimes the monotony of staying home with the kids can be mind-numbing, but yesterday I hadn't even realized how out of sorts I was until I started making this soup. An hour and a half before dinnertime. I had to keep stopping and walking away because it was going to be done way too early and those gorgeous chunks of fish in the stew are best served immediately after they've taken their 5-minute dunk in the hot broth. So don't start this more than 30 minutes before you want to eat. Not even if you're bored.

I started by cooking 1 small onion, 1 celery stalk with leafy tops and 2 small carrots, all chopped small, in about a tablespoon butter. I cooked them until they were soft, then added 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme.

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I added 3 cups chicken broth and 1 cup water and brought that to a boil while I peeled and cut a big Russet potato in 3/4-inch pieces. Added the potato to the soup and simmered until the potato was tender.

While the potato cooked I cut up about a pound of cod fillets. I made the chunks fairly big, 2 or 3 inches. Then I slipped them into the broth, turned down the heat to simmer and heated through, about 5 minutes, until the fish was cooked and flaked easily but was still moist. Served in shallow bowls with bread.

It's finally soup weather! The gorgeous picture of cioppino drew me in to this list:

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